Hardly any other car model (or mini bus for this instance) has such a high cult status as the Volkswagen Bus. It has been around for over 60 years and the Type 2 model is still in production in Brazil. Volkswagen is dead serious on its heritage as they have appointed Franz-Josef Paefgen (in October last year), former chief executive of Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, to head their classics program.

At Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, the Volkswagen Bus has its own department dedicated in preserving its heritage and it is known as the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer. The department was set-up in 2007 and in five years, it has expanded really fast.

The team at the Oldtimer department has purchased and restored over 100 vehicles. They also do restoration for external customers, inclusive of detailed documentation of their work on the vehicles. Due to the formation of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer department, they moved to a new building in Hannover, Germany at the beginning of this year.

The new facility has approximately 7000 square meters of space that houses these historic vehicles. On top of that, it also has a machine park that includes a sheet metal bending bench, lathe and milling machines and its own paint shop. The department currently has 13 employees, from mechanics to even an event planner.

Owners of a historic Volkswagen vehicle can have their rides restored there and regardless whether it is a full or partial restoration, the staff there will take on any assignment. They will talk through all personal wishes with the vehicle owners before preparing any individually custom job.

The unique feature of the department is the detailed documentation of any restoration work. Every comprehensive step is photographically documented and described in detail. In this manner, the work done are left for future customers, who can browse through their folders whenever they visit the place.